I was having a talk with FibreLyte in regards to that I am considering mounting their carbon pulleys on an XX1 rear mech. FibreLyte does however not recommend the use of the carbon pulleys off road due to mud getting stuck in the pulleys leading to excessive wear and tear. Any suggestions on super light weight pulleys which can take some off road (XC) and still hold up well?

I have not tried FibreLyte, but other carbon pulleys failed. Fall and winter riding. Too much dirt/grass and snow/ice destroyed them. Still have some pics somewhere, will try to post.

About FibreLyte - honest company. I asked abut chainrings to use in MTB. They said no problem, but mentioned they would not last long, depending on conditions. I am still considering getting a small ring from them since it is used less.

Anyway, aluminum pulleys were loud and the color wears off quickly.

AFC pulleys are best from what I have tried yet. Save 10-15g from original pulleys. Did not have good shifting with Di2, but that is a different story. Here original is best.

They look to be the same as the Mt Zoom ones but cheaper and available in colours other than red.

As Njee has said, they far outlast SRAM/ Shimano alternatives both on terms of remaining smooth and also in terms of wear on the teeth (as tested in horrible gritty, muddy British Winters).

They make no noise so there really is no downside. Also they still look good after 2700km so no reason not to IMO.

People also tend to argue that an alu jockey wheel will wear the chain quicker... take a look at what the chainring is made from

I also like that the large gaps between the "spokes" of the Aerozine/ Mt Zoom design seems to clear mud/ muck/ grass far better than a standard jockey wheel. Overall, light, cheap, long lasting and perform great. Nothing not to like

Aerozine and Mt Zoom sounds good. Never liked how Shimano and SRAM gathers mud on the side. Hopefully this is better. I have to admit though, that in the perfect world, I would prefer carbon. However, seems to be the wrong material for this use, so maybe better to stay with alu.

The thing that ultimately steered me away from aftermarket pulleys is that my 7800 DuraAce rear derailleur comes with a floating upper pulley, as do many rear derailleurs. I think they do this to help with shifting. It will float side to side a few mm's. Haven't found any aftermarkets that do that.

"You can not compare our pulleys by spinning them in your hands. Our pulleys will not spin in your fingers, because our pulleys are simply to light to spin in the fingers. If you have a pulley that spins well in your fingers, that means you have a heavy pulley with a lot of mass that will move the pulley around. Pretty much the same as a crank set to test our bottom bracket. So you get the wow effect on a bottom bracket because you have a heavy load with a crank set to show the performance. This is not the case on our pulley, so the wow effect is missing. It is the same if you would use our bearings in a skateboard wheel. It simply has not enough load to spin for ever, but as you can see in the friction fact sheet, once installed you get the lowest friction possible."

my take on this is that Shimanoi have got this right - the pulleys that use sealed bearings are not really suitable for dunking into water and mud and will fail - the seal is 100% watertigtht and once water gets in ,teh bearing can seize pretty quckly - something that cannot happen with the bush typoe Shimanos.

having said that, I run various lightweight alloy pulleys, such as AEST and aeorzine but refrain from taking my best bikes when I know the ground is gonna be muddy.

Well thats weird because Shimano use sealed ball races in the lower jockey wheel on XT RDs but ceramic bush in the upper. Seems to me the lower is more likely to get dunked. Both wheels in my XTR RD on the Scalpel are ballraced.

I've replaced the upper wheels on my 26ers with BBB Rollerboys which have been brilliant from both a rolling resistance and durability perspective. Noticeable improvement in friction.

Sealed cartridge bearings are used all over the bike. So long as the seal can be lifted, the gunk can be easily cleaned out and the races regreased- There isn't a better option IMO. You can't do too much to maintain or prolong the life of a bush.

The Aerozine pulleys I have been using can be maintained by lifting the seal and have been fantastic in harsh British conditions

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